Night Air
by KeepFaith-SmellApples
Summary: Post 2x09, Triggerfinger. Andrea goes to talk to Daryl after Carol leaves. Somewhat established Andrea/Daryl.


**So I wrote this story quickly last night, in about 10 minutes after the episode finished. It seems to me like Andrea thinks Shane is her Hercules-type boyfriend, and it bugs the hell out of me that she's ignoring Dale when he tells her how horrible Shane really is.  
>But anyway, I edited it this moring and decided to post it! This is my first Walking Dead story, and I hope it's not all over the place too much.<strong>

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><p>Carol had come to the group, and quietly told everyone that Lori had gone out looking for Rick and Glenn and Herschel.<p>

They knew Daryl had told her, seen his lonesome fire sticking out in the dark night, and then Shane had driven off in a rage.

The group had gone inside to finish dinner, but Andrea didn't want to go inside. Not yet.

She rubbed her arms, the night air chilling her slightly, and headed over to Daryl's tent, completely set aside from everyone else's. Andrea saw him hunched over the fire, probably trying to cook something he'd caught in the woods earlier that day.

She walked over to him, until she was standing behind him, slightly off to the side. "Daryl?" She asked after a few moments. "Are you alright?" Andrea cautiously put a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off as though she'd burned him.

"Wish people'd stop asking me that," He grumbled, and he moves over on the log.

Andrea can't tell if he wants to get farther away from her, or if he wants her to sit down, but she sits anyway, at the opposite end of the log. "Daryl... You did all you could to protect Sophia. More than anyone else in the camp ever did."

"Made no difference."

Andrea shifted closer, "it probably made a difference to her. Wherever she is. She's probably grateful, and doesn't want you to get torn up over not being able to save her."

He doesn't answer, and Andrea's almost afraid that she's said too much, but after a minute, he answers.

"You really believe that everyone's out there? Somewhere; watchin' us?"

She smiles, and puts her hand on his shoulder again, but this time he doesn't brush her off. "I have to."

They sit in silence, and she notices that every few seconds, he slides a millimeter closer to her, afraid to move to publicly.

She bites her lip but can't hide a smile, but she moves directly next to him, and he wraps a strong arm around her, and presses a kiss to the crown of her head. They sit in silence for another 15 minutes, Daryl spontaneously kissing her head, until the hear Shane's car skid back into camp. Then they have to go back into the group and pretend to be friends. Like always.

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><p>He stands next to her when they watch Rick and Glenn and Herschel drive back, but he doesn't say anything. He glances at her when they all gather in the kitchen, but he doesn't say anything. Daryl never really says anything, but to Andrea he communicates to her silently.<p>

He's relieved when Rick and Herschel drive back, because he doesn't want her to get hurt fighting walkers. He joins the group in the kitchen because he figured that she was right about not getting torn up over Sophia's death.

That night, after the group seems to have calmed down a bit, Andrea feels tired and retired to her tent around seven.

Five minutes after she's laid down and changed into her makeshift pajamas, the flap of her tent opens and Daryl poles his head in. "Can I come in?"

Andrea smiled and sat up, pulling her knees against her chest. "Of course."

"Are you feeling okay?" He asked her gruffly, awkwardly sitting in front of the entrance to her tent. "You're going to bed kind of early."

She shrugs slightly. "I'm just a little tired from watch. But I'm fine."

"Oh." Daryl nodded awkwardly, and Andrea smiled at him. He made to get up, and he opened the tent flap, but she spoke before he could leave. "You don't have to go, Daryl. You... You can stay."

And he does, for the night. He slid under the blanket next to her, and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Goodnight," he whispered to her.

She smiled, completely thrilled that he's there with her. "Goodnight, Daryl." She curled up as close to him as possible. It was cold again tonight, just like the night air was before.

After almost an hour of them lying together, Daryl shifts and she knows that he wasn't awake. She wasn't asleep either, but she stayed still, hoping that he didn't leave.

He didn't. Daryl leaned over her body, and Andrea felt him brush a piece of hair out of her face, and then pressed a kiss to her forehead. He settled back down next to her after that, and she felt him finally relax and go to sleep. And then she did too.


End file.
